RBL 40-pounder Armstrong gun
| Company type | Artillery gun |
|---|---|
| Industry | Military ordnance |
| Founded | 1860 |
| Founder | William Armstrong |
| Headquarters | United Kingdom |
| Products | Rifled breechloading artillery guns |
Template:Infobox weapon The Armstrong RBL 40-pounder gun entered service in the year 1860, designed for deployment on both naval vessels and land fortifications. It incorporated William Armstrong's innovative rifled breechloading system. This artillery piece remained operational until approximately 1902, when it was superseded by more advanced Breech Loading (BL) models.
Design history
The Armstrong screw breech mechanism had already demonstrated effectiveness in the RBL 12 pounder field gun. Despite Armstrong's objections regarding its suitability for heavier artillery, the British Government insisted on adapting this breech system for larger calibres.[1] Production took place at both the Royal Gun Factory located in Woolwich and the Elswick Ordnance Company.
Similar to other early Armstrong designs, these guns employed a polygroove rifling system and fired various types of lead-coated projectiles.
Variants
Initially, the gun was produced in a 32 cwt model, which was later succeeded by a 35 cwt version featuring an extended and reinforced breech-piece.[2] In 1864, a 32 cwt variant equipped with a horizontal sliding-wedge breech replaced the Armstrong screw mechanism and vertical vent-piece, aiming to remedy the identified limitations of the screw-breech system. This model was phased out of service by 1877.[3]
Starting in 1880, a limited number of 35 cwt guns were modified by rotating their trunnion rings leftward so that the vent-piece could open horizontally to the right; these were designated as "side-closing" guns.[4] Unlike the sliding-wedge models, these retained a vent-piece secured by tightening a screw behind it.
In 1859, this artillery piece was recommended for naval deployment either as a broadside or pivot gun.[2]
An officer aboard HMS Euryalus provided an account of the gun's effectiveness during the August 1863 Bombardment of Kagoshima: Template:Blockquote
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During the Anglo-Egyptian War following the bombardment of Alexandria in 1882, an armed train was utilized. One of these 40 Pounder RBL guns was mounted on the train and operated by Royal Navy personnel. It participated in combat at the battle of Kassasin on September 1, 1882.[5]
Land service
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Various types of gun carriages were utilized for Land Service artillery. For siege operations, wooden carriages equipped with wheels and limbers allowed heavy horse teams to pull the guns.
Fortification-mounted guns were installed on two primary carriage types. One type was an iron traversing carriage that permitted lateral movement of the gun, with recoil managed by mounting the carriage on a sliding mechanism. Alternatively, some guns were placed on elevated "siege travelling carriages," designed for semi-mobile deployment within forts and capable of firing over parapets.
From 1889 onward, many of these guns were reissued to Volunteer Artillery Batteries of Position. Among these were 40 Pounders; a total of 226 guns were allocated to Volunteer Artillery units during 1888 and 1889.[7] According to the 1893 War Office Mobilisation Scheme, thirty Artillery Volunteer position batteries equipped with 40 Pounder guns were designated for concentration in Surrey and Essex if mobilized.[8] These artillery pieces remained in service in this capacity until approximately 1902, when they were progressively replaced by 4.7-inch Quick Firing (QF) guns. Several units continued to use them as saluting guns for some years thereafter.
Indian subcontinent
A photograph taken by John Burke (photographer) during the Second Anglo-Afghan War (November 1878 – September 1880) appears to feature an RBL 40-pounder Armstrong breechloading gun. This conflict began when Britain, concerned about expanding Russian influence in Afghanistan, launched an invasion from British India. The initial phase concluded in May 1879 with the Treaty of Gandamak, which allowed Afghanistan internal autonomy but required ceding control over foreign affairs to Britain. Hostilities resumed in September 1879 following an anti-British uprising in Kabul, ultimately ending in September 1880 after the decisive Battle of Kandahar.[6]
Service in the Colony of Victoria
In August 1865, the Australian colony of Victoria obtained six 35 cwt guns. These were deployed as mobile artillery for coastal defense, with one gun mounted on the colonial sloop Victoria during the years 1866 and 1867. Subsequently, four of these guns were repurposed as field artillery at Hastings. At least three of these pieces are confirmed to still exist.
Service in the Colony of Tasmania
Following the Jervois-Scratchley reports of 1877, which assessed the defense needs of Australian colonies after British troop withdrawals, the Launceston Volunteer Artillery Corps in Tasmania acquired two guns mounted on late-model iron carriages equipped with iron wheels. These weapons remained in operation at least until 1902.
Existing Specimens
- An 1865 Royal Gun Factory piece located at Elizabeth Castle, Jersey
- Three guns recovered and used as bollards at Broughty Castle, Dundee, Scotland
- Restored gun number 272 displayed at the Hastings-Western Port Historical Society Museum, Victoria, Australia
- Restored gun number 271 housed at Fort Queenscliff, Victoria, Australia
- Unrestored gun number 268 situated in Como Park, South Yarra, Victoria
- A gun exhibited at Fort Henry, Canada
- Preserved gun number 419 G dated 1867 held by the Canadian War Museum, Ottawa, Canada
- Displayed at the Royal Canadian Artillery Museum in Manitoba, Canada
- A side-closing 40-pounder manufactured by Elswick Ordnance Company is part of the collection at Royal Armouries, Fort Nelson, Portsmouth
- At Fort St. Catherine's, Bermuda, one of eight guns (five known survivors) was sent to this imperial fortress colony for use as mobile artillery. These guns were stored and deployed along a military road (now South Shore Road) during the 1860s and 1870s to various old coastal batteries on Bermuda’s South Shore that had been stripped of fixed defenses. Eventually replaced by newer weapons, some were downgraded to a saluting battery role at Fort Victoria before World War I and remained there into the 1930s.
- Two guns are located at Royal Naval Dockyard, Bermuda. One was recovered from Bailey's Bay Battery complete with its original mobile carriage and restored for display in the Bermuda's Defence Heritage Exhibit (opened in 2002) within the cellar of the Commissioner's House atop the North Yard Keep of the dockyard fortifications. Another Mark I serial number 280 G from 1864 was embedded as a bollard on a wharf near Red Barracks close to St. George's Town on June 26, 1936. The site is now a private residence and guest house; its owners donated this gun to the museum where it has been retrieved and relocated to the Keep.
- At Penno's Wharf in St. George's Town, two guns were installed as bollards adjacent to a warehouse historically used by military ordnance. These have since been recovered and restored and are presently mounted outside this building that serves as the World Heritage Centre, established by the St. George's Foundation following UNESCO’s designation of St. George’s Town and surrounding fortifications as a World Heritage Site in 2000 under the title Historic Town of St George and Related Fortifications, Bermuda.
- Mounted aboard HMS Warrior in Portsmouth, UK
See also
Notes and references
- ↑ Ruffell, The Armstrong Gun Part 5: British revert to Muzzle Loading
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Treatise on the Construction and Manufacture of Ordnance in the British Service.Template:Page needed
- ↑ Treatise on the Construction and Manufacture of Ordnance in the British Service pages 89, 153
- ↑ "Victorian Forts and Artillery: Victorian Artillery: List of British Service Artillery in use during the Victorian period". Archived from the original on 29 January 2021. Retrieved 13 July 2012.
- ↑ Goodrich, Caspar F (Lt Cdr), Report of the British Naval and Military Operations in Egypt 1882, Navy Department, Washington, 1885, p.188
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Elephant and Mule Battery ("Dignity & Impudence") WDL11496.png caption, Library of Congress
- ↑ Report on the Account of Army Expenditure from 1888–1889, The National archives, WO33/50
- ↑ Mobilization Tables for Home Defence, List of Militia, Yeomanry and Volunteer Units, HMSO, London, 1893
Bibliography
- Treatise on the Construction and Manufacture of Ordnance in the British Service, 1877
- Text Book of Gunnery, 1887. LONDON: PUBLISHED FOR HIS MAJESTY'S STATIONERY OFFICE BY HARRISON AND SONS, ST. MARTIN'S LANE Archived 4 December 2012 at archive.today
- Text Book of Gunnery, 1902. LONDON: PUBLISHED FOR HIS MAJESTY'S STATIONERY OFFICE BY HARRISON AND SONS, ST. MARTIN'S LANE Archived 12 July 2012 at archive.today
- Alexander Lyman Holley, "A Treatise on Ordnance and Armor", D Van Nostrand, New York, 1865
External links
- Handbook for 40-pr rifled B.L. guns 32 and 35 cwt traveling, siege and 6-feet parapet carriages, 1899 at State Library of Victoria
- Diagram of RBL 40-pdr on siege traveling carriage at Victorian Forts and Artillery website
- RBL 40-pdr on Platform, Medium No. 4 at Victorian Forts and Artillery website
- W.L. Ruffell, Armstrong RBL 40-pr
- W.L. Ruffell, "The Armstrong Gun Part 4: Other Armstrong Equipments in New Zealand" – land use during the New Zealand Wars
- Diagram depicting gun on block trail carriage
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